Morgan Hugh Image 1 Liverpool 1898

Description

Longriggend, Lanarkshire born inside forward Hugh Morgan began his football career with Longriggend Wanderers in 1894 before moving to St Mirren in 1895, where he came to the notice of the international selectors, playing for The Scottish League against The Irish League at Carolina in January 1898, scoring in a 5-0 victory, and winning his first Scotland international cap in a 5-2 win over Wales at Fir Park a week before he joined First Division Liverpool in March 1898. He made his Football League debut on 2nd April in a 3-2 defeat at Notts County, and played in the last four First Division fixtures of that season, scoring against Aston Villa.

He missed just two League fixtures the following season and was the club’s leading scorer with 13 goals as Liverpool finished runners-up in the League Championship, two points behind champions Aston Villa. He played in all 3 FA Cup semi final matches as Liverpool lost 1-0 to eventual winners Sheffield United in a second replay at The Baseball Ground after a 2-2 draw (in which he scored) and a 4-4 draw. Such form earned him a recall to the Scotland eleven, and he won his second and final cap against England in a 2-1 defeat at Villa Park in April 1899.

He joined First Division Blackburn Rovers in the summer of 1900 after 18 goals in 68 appearances for Liverpool and as fate would have it made his debut against Liverpool on 1st September 1900 at Anfield, losing 3-0 to The Reds. Blackburn finished ninth that season while Liverpool took the League Championship. Morgan had a successful career at Rovers scoring 18 goals in 79 appearances over the next three years. He returned to his native Scotland in September 1903 when he joined Dundee regarded at the age of 29 as “admittedly on the old side”, but the Evening Telegraph concluded that “often do players who have reached his years appear to receive a new lease of life when the company is changed.”